York Trading & Co, Sydney CBD

I first noticed York Trading & Co (and the new nearby sushi place) looking out from my bus on weekday mornings. Although it looks like a bar, the fact never quite sunk in because the coffee and breakfast grabbers impressed me with associations of the morning.

Regardless, I've since realised they serve liquor and not-so-breakfasty food. The concept is simple - it's New York themed, fittingly on York Street and caters for both the sharers and the selfish (or more accurately, the germaphobes). Being a bar, it was too dimly lit for me to bother taking photos of the premises, which was divided into a narrow bar area and a more open restaurant section. My friend hadn't made a reservation, so a table wasn't an option. Instead, we perched ourselves precariously on the slightly wobbly bar stools.

A quick glance at the menu revealed there were no specials that day - the caption for Friday was something like "because you deserve a drink".

"Since we need a drink at the end of the week, we should be paying full prices," one person mused. My dad would certainly applaud the business sense of levying the captive market!

At the time of ordering, I was feeling ravenous, cantankerous, and certainly did not want to share. I didn't want a heavy meal, though, since one drink is enough to make me half-full. Instead, I selected the "roast pumpkin, smoked mozzarella and guacamole piadina", thinking it would be similar to a panini. Turns out it's more like a quesadilla of flatbread, or an Italian version of naan bread cum cheese melt. Sounds obscure, but it was prettttyyy good. Though the pureed pumpkin was sweet, it wasn't overly so. In any case, it was offset by the richness of the cheese and avocado. Portion-wise, it's great for sharing, but you can also eat it on your own - it certainly made me full!
 

Pumpkin piadina ($15.00)

Having a penchant for cocktails, I also had the "I Heart NY" and the "YT Pharmaceutical Stimulant".

"I Heart NY": Apple jack brandy, blood orange liqueur, passionfruit, orange citrate bitters. As its contents suggests, this one was heavy on the citrus. Strong lemony flavours abounded.

I Heart NY ($18.00)

"YT Pharmaceutical Stimulant": Very fun to say. Basically an espresso martini- Campos coffee, vodka, coffee liqueur and vanilla. Strong coffee taste, not that creamy - the top layer of foam isn't as thick as it looks. Halfway through and I couldn't finish as it was too sweet. Pity because it's actually quite nice.

YT Pharmaceutical Stimulant ($18.00)